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Friday, December 07, 2007

German Scientology Ban Wrongheaded

Call it beating a dead horse, but Germany has hardly proven to be a hotbed of religious tolerance.

A recent movement in Germany to ban the Church of Scientology, however, has taken a turn for the just plain embarrassing.

Noting that Scientology allegedly "to be an organization that is not compatible with the constitution," Berlin Interior minister Ehrhart Koerting has noted that the country's domestic intelligence service will be asked to do the work necessary to ban Scientology in Germany.

Regardless of whether or not one considers Scientology to be a sham or not -- and there's much to be said about a religion established just so a Science Fiction author can sell more copies of his book -- the goals of Scientology hardly "threatens the peaceful democratic order."

In fact, banning Scientology -- and thus enshrining religious intolerance in the country's security policy -- presents a threat to the "peaceful democratic order" in Germany.

When government officials in Germany start buying into bizarre world domination conspiracy theories, it's not hard to imagine that the country is at risk of sliding back into some of its darker historical chapters.

One need not like Scientology to admit that its adherents have the right to their religious beliefs.